Much to your surprise, your partner turns down the Jack of Spades, and the player in first seat passes (!). Now it's to you...what would you do with this hand?

If you choose to call Clubs, you are probably on your own. Expect to receive very little help from your partner, if any at all. Remember, he turned down the Jack of Spades, which means he shouldn't have the Jack of Clubs in his hand, and likely has no Ace strength either, otherwise the bower might have been worthy of picking up.

If you pass, the player to your left is quite likely to call something, and probably not a suit that you are strong in. The good cards have to be somewhere.

Rule of thumb: When your partner is the dealer and the upcard (especially a big one) is turned down -- and the first opponent passes, you should consider ordering a suit of the opposite color (red or black) as the upcard. This is known as "crossing the suit".

If your partner had a good hand in black at all, the bower would have been picked up. If your partner has help in anything, it is more likely to be in a red suit.

BasicEuchre Strategy

Harvey "the Rabbit"

How low can I go? (assuming the opponents don't have 8 or 9 points)

You can safely bid with at least a King and a Nine of a suit opposite in color from the upcard and at least one side Ace (same color as the upcard) and one void suit. This hand will score a point just over 50% of the time in this scenario.

Experience has proven to me that when you don't take a shot in this seat by calling suit, the left hand opponent goes alone or scores a march, making the risk of being euchred seem much smaller. I'd rather be in the driver's seat myself.

Although the hand appears to be too weak to call, experience has proven to me that it will be good for a point often enough to try it. Also: Try to lead low trump at first chance and don't ruff a non-trump King (or less) lead on trick one. This is the perfect trick for your partner to pick-up. Just discard your junk.

Also, if you have three low cards of a red suit in your hand and only one other suit, go for it. Even the bottom three and a Nine and Ten of another suit. Consider your partner good for one-and-a-half tricks in red after turning down a black bower.

Even though there is limited information available during the trump- making rounds of euchre, sometimes noting the players that pass before you will be enough to make an educated call on an otherwise weak hand.

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